Missionary Work
Soon after graduating, he became interested in missionary work. In 1854, he was ordained by Colenso as a deacon, having become a member of the Church of England two years earlier. Soon afterwards, he went as a missionary to Africa. Initially, he was stationed at Ekukanyeni (near Pietermaritzburg), but, after being ordained as a priest in 1855, he was made rector of St. Andrew's in Pietermaritzburg.
In 1858, he was granted land near the Umkomanzi River and settled at Insunguze, which he renamed Spring Vale. It was here that he began his study of the Zulu religious beliefs and other customs and obtained the information which enabled him to write his books Nursery Tales, Traditions, and Histories of the Zulus (published in 1868) and The Religious System of the Amazulu (published in 1870). He also translated the Book of Psalms and the Book of Common Prayer into Zulu.
In 1873, he was recalled to England so he could be consecrated as the first missionary Bishop of St John's, Kaffraria. He left England the following year. In 1876, he moved the seat of his diocese to Umtata, where he founded St. John's Theological College.
His health, however, began to fail, and he resigned his post in 1886. The next year he returned to England, making his home at Ottery Saint Mary, where he lived until his death in 1890.
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